One last punch? One MMA luminary says late strikes need to be addressed

With the end of the year coming up, I was going over the past few UFC events in my mind, the images of Dong Hyun Kim landing one last punch on Erick Silva’s face after he was out cold and Jeremy Stephens doing the same with Rony Jason keep on coming back. We have all seen this before, and no one seems to think too much of it. In fact, when Dan Henderson did the same to Michael Bisping, everyone seemed to enjoy it!

But I also remember Brian Stann in Alessio Sakara’s guard. When Brian had Sakara out, he could have kept on punching, but he stopped and looked up at the referee as if to say, “Hey, he is out!” I gained a lot of respect for Brian at that moment.

And when Lyoto Machida knocked out Mark Munoz with a high kick, he cocked his fist for a finishing punch but did not pull the trigger. That moment sticks in my mind as a noble one, showing a real martial artist, who is completely under control and not out to hurt his opponent past what is needed to win – and definitely not there to beat someone up who is already unconscious! Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is a legend of the sport, but he didn’t need to throw that last punch against James Te Huna.

Now, I don’t know Dong Hyun Kim, and I have no way of telling if this guy is mean-spirited or anything, so I can’t really comment on his personality. But I have had a few different of my guys fight Jeremy Stephens, and we have been at the same hotel – even in the same van many times – and I know he is a very cool kid. What he did was in the heat of battle, to make sure he finished the fight. But brothers, if there was ever someone that was not coming back to fight, it was Rony Jason after that knockout. Another finishing punch there was simply unnecessary!

I won’t go out on a limb to say the same about Henderson in the Bisping fight. As much of a fan as I am of Dan’s, I think he just did that because of all the trash that Bisping talked before that fight.

Regardless of the reasons, I do think things like this are wrong. Most of the time, this happens just because it is in the heat of battle, and these boys are out there to win and are not stopping until the referee steps in, which is correct according to the current MMA rules. But I do think it is unethical, in the same way we know that is wrong and unethical to have Rousimar Palhares holding on to people’s limbs after they have tapped. If you think about it, it’s really the same, if not even worse – a knocked out fighter cannot tap!

It’s this kind of attitude that makes MMA a noble sport, rather then a blood sport. A lot of people still consider MMA a blood sport, and moments like that can end up helping support those uneducated views. Not only that, but in a case when a guy is completely knocked out like that – completely defenseless – another punch or two can be the difference between waking up with a hurt ego, but not much more, or a few days at the hospital – or even worse. That is something that no one wants to see.

I have had the privilege to be present and watch this sport be born and grow since almost the very beginning, and many things have developed and improved along the way. This development should absolutely continue.

There are still many holes in the judging system, and many fights wind up with controversial endings as some of the people judging still do not seem to have the experience to be handling that role. But these late shots are just another aspect of the sport that should be addressed to make the sport of MMA safer and as fan-friendly as possible without taking the essence away.

Alex Davis is a lifelong practitioner of martial arts and a former Brazilian judo champion. A founding member of American Top Team, Davis currently oversees the careers of a number of prominent Brazilian fighters, including Edson Barboza, Rousimar Palhares, Antonio Silva and Thiago Tavares, among others. Davis is a frequent contributor to MMAjunkie.com, sharing his current views on the sport built through his perspectives that date back to the Brazilian roots of modern MMA.